Triathlete:
A person who doesn't understand that one sport is hard enough.
Living the life of an Australian U/23 professional Triathlete. Blogging all the Races, training, learning hurdles, travel, fun, Glamour... sweat and tears along the way...Enjoy!

Tuesday, 4 July 2017

June- Working hard to Chase the Endless Summer

Hey Team,

WOW, June, they say time flies when you’re having fun but I can’t
believe we’re half way through 2017 already!

I made the most of my last month
in Australia for a while & survived 1 month more of winter than I’ve had in
the past 3 years, but I won’t start talking about the weather… because come on
how many times do you walk into an 'sort of' friend, elevator trip or are waiting in
line & the first port of call seems to always be a nice discussion on how
nice, cold or crappy the weather is, haha riveting stuff but luckily for you this is
a blog about Triathlon!

For me June fell into a solid training block, nailing down
quality work & mileage before heading over to Europe at the start of July
to kick off my second block of international racing on the World Triathlon
Series! With winter in Australia looked at as the off season for triathlon it
was a great chance to enjoy different training & racing environments on offer!

One of
my favourites was the Cycling NSW Road Race Championship event, run at West Head, in the Kuringah National Park, my stomping ground when it comes to riding
so I was pumped to line up for a 70km race here! There was some heavy fog and moderate
rain all morning (race in it, train in it!) and a 7am start meant the sun hadn’t
reached up the ridge yet & so it was a tough first half to the race on the
difficult conditions! Undulating the whole way & playing with the big boys
it was fun to mix it up & stick in till the end!

Winter has provided a perfect oppourtunity to get out for
some oceans swim work in my Dare 2 Tri Mach4 suit, a brilliantly designed suit
for those looking or all the pluses of a wetsuit, without the restriction felt
in the arms & shoulders sometime felt with other wetsuits i have found, as the arms of
the Dare 2 Tri Mach4 are only 0.5 mm in thickness. Check them out here- https://www.dare2tri.eu/wetsuits/women/women-s-mach4s-0-5-wetsuit.html

I’ve also been lucky enough
to have access to the latest & greatest swim technology from ACE
Performance swimming- there Bodimax sleeves are like compression wear but for
your arms & a perfect fit for in the water during training! The sleeves
help maximize the bloody circulation through the arms & I have felt a big difference in our lactic top end work
sessions. Also proving beneficial for after we do some dry land swim based strength
work and then hop into the pool, the Bodimax sleeves have made a big
difference in how “heavy” my arms feel, making it that bit easier to get up
& go under muscular fatigue. Check them out online, along with there other
great products here- https://aceswimming.com.au/

I love my Saturday Long rides, a routine for a few years now
& something I really enjoy, the best way to kick off my weekend & it
certainly makes that post ride coffee & brunch all the more sweeter! I wanted
to tick off a few of my favourite long rides in the saddle before I headed off
to Europe. The best 2 from the Northern Beaches I think are the Ettalong to
Palmy ride & the 5 Gorges- The Ettalong ride is about 150km for me, & involves
some timing skill as the ferry from Ettalong on the NSW Central Coast back to
Palm Beach at the northern end of the Northern Beaches only runs every 90mins! It’s
a great ride up out through the Kuringah National Park, Bobbin head, &
along the old pacific highway, across the (aussie) Brooklyn Bridge & climbing up through to
Wiseman’s ferry, before decending down to Gosford, tracking back south along the
water to Ettalong on the central coast, a short 30min ferry ride then takes you
to Palm beach where it's a 25km ride home along the coast! EPIC!

The 5 Gorges ride starts off similar, with 5 major climbs
and over 2600m of climbing all up which is big for Sydney! Climbing up McCarr’s
Creek road to “Top Box”, heading out to Bobbin Head, climbing up Bobbin, then along
the old Pacific Highway & up Mt White, back down into Berowa Waters, another
ferry ride 5 mins across the waters before climbing up out of Berowa to
Arcadia, making your way down to Galston Gorge for continual switchback turns
out of Galston before one last climb out of Bobbin head the opposite way heading
home ( I guess that makes 6 climbs & some heavy legs!!)

If your around the Sydney area and looking for an epic long
ride on 2 wheels check these 2 out!! Go & smash some Strava segments & I
might see you for a 21grams coffee in Dee Why when I've returned from Europe!

June was a great oppourtunity to focus in on some key areas
of improvement & dial in on some important aspects with the help of all the
specialists available to me through the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) &
NSWIS (NSW Institute of Sport) Triathlon Scholarship programs which I am
proudly a part of!

One of which was being able to spend a few days down in
Canberra working on run skill acquisition & Bio mechanics with Dan Greenwood.
These sessions and long days of “work” were challenging more mentally than
physically for the majority! It was so valuable to get on the spot feedback
& great to be in charge of my learning & running, I was the one saying
what felt best, what felt out of order & how I felt I could best implement
change, facilitated with the help of Dan!

Using the AIS resources to get an
update on all my medical & physio screenings while I was down there!
Confident that I am packing & heading over to Europe fit, healthy &
pumped to get over there!!

Okay, I lied, June wasn’t all fun, I had some Uni exams to
finish for my Nursing Degree & I have now got these finalised & have
finished Uni for the year! With one last unit of study to complete in the 2018
as I’m unable to study abroad for nursing in the second semester of 2017 as the
work is too practical based to do online, frustrating as I am SO close but fair
enough, I wouldn’t be comfortable with a nurse who had learnt purely from a
screen….

As many may have noticed, I do pay regular visits to my
favoutite local coffee shop, 21 Grams on South Creek road Dee Why whether it be
after a solid morning’s training, a sit in the sun, or to get a uni lecture done, the coffee can’t
be beat!! (And the treats are pretty hard to turn away too…) I’m a big fan, so
one very exciting event this month for me was the partnership between 21 Grams
business & owner John Greco & myself moving forward into the
next Olympic cycle! It is such a pleasure to represent such a hard working
company & local business. With the desire to support a local athlete, &
to help them progress forward in their sporting pursuits to the top, all the
while sharing this crazy journey together!! SO I am officially fueled by 21
grams! Check out there page & location!!

Watch out for the swift new 21 Grams cycle & run kits out
& about on the roads which we’ve collaborated with Catfish Designs to create,
paired with some cheeky catch phrases..
“Woops you just got chicked…next
time try 21 grams”

And don’t stress, my 21 Grams coffee update posts after training
will continue, only in Europe they will be made by yours truly on my newAeropress.. So don’t expect any fancy coffee art, I’m still learning!

I certainly felt the love this month, with plenty of quality
time & fun with friends & family to soak up before I started Packing to
head off for the next 3 months away in Europe! Sydney certainly put on some
spectacular winter days in the week leading up to departure, showing me what I'm
going to miss back home, but what I always love is no matter how far or long I
go for, I ALWAYS know I've got a home I love to come back too, with the beautiful
northern beaches & everyone there! And you certainly WONT catch me saying ‘goodbyes’
or counting ‘lasts.’ It will always be ‘SEE YOU SOON’ or ‘UNTIL NEXT TIME!!’

Flying over on British Airways via a stop in Hong Kong &
London, with 23 hours flying, before the final 2 hour leg down to Bilbao (Spain).
This year I added in some extra fun, hiring a little car for myself to drive
from Bilbao to Vitoria Gasteiz where I will call home with the rest of the
Aussie crew & support staff! Oh to be a fly on the wall watching as I tried to multitask (us women have that skill down pat) driving, on the right side
of the road, navigating & staying awake after 30 hours of travel! It made for a great story & laugh!

I will be regularly posting on my Facebook athlete page with
updates on what were up to over in Vitoria Gasteiz, training & racing, so
be sure to like my page for these- Emma Jeffcoat Professional Triathlete.

The Plan at present for the next few months of International Racing is:

July-

15th –
Hamburg Germany (WTS) World Triathlon Series & the 2nd
Commonwealth Games Automatic selection event ( Must be the first Aussie in
the top 10 across the line)

16th-
I will be in Hamburg for the ITU World Relay
Championships, where the Aussie team will be decided following the WTS
event, made up of 2 men & women completing a full mini triathlon each before
tagging the next team member. (This event was recently announced in the program
for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games YAHOOOO!!!)

23rd-
Munster German Bundesliga Event (Racing for my German team)

August-

6th-
Montreal Canada WTS Event

20th-
Grimma German Bundesliga Event (Racing for my German Team)

September-

14th- ITU
U/23 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Racing should be available on Foxtel, otherwise all ITU WTS
World Triathlon Series racing is available live on theITU live site, & I will be sure to update on any additional links or channels made available
closer to watch the racing live form back home!

A MASSIVE THANKYOU to my support team around me of family,
friends & Brilliant sponsors who made it possible for me to not only get to
where I am over the past 6 months, but head off to Europe as prepared as
possible, ready to take on the world!!

For now its time to settle into the Euro life & knuckle into some hard work!!